Red zone is dead zone for Texans' offense

The end zone proved to be elusive territory for the Texans on Sunday against the Cowboys.

The end zone proved to be elusive territory for the Texans on Sunday against the Cowboys.

Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer

Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer

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The end zone proved to be elusive territory for the Texans on Sunday against the Cowboys.

The end zone proved to be elusive territory for the Texans on Sunday against the Cowboys.

Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer

Red zone is dead zone for Texans' offense

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Gallows humor was the choice for coach Bill O'Brien when he was reminded that the Texans had the top-ranked red-zone offense in the league last year until quarterback Deshaun Watson hurt his knee.

"Not this year," O'Brien said Monday.

It was just one day after the Texans managed to squeak out a 19-16 overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys despite scoring just one touchdown out of six red-zone opportunities.

If not for a shovel pass from Watson to rookie wide receiver Keke Coutee, the Texans would have been completely shut out of red-zone touchdowns.

When the Texans were inside the Cowboys' 5-yard line, they handed off to running back Alfred Blue only once. They had one turnover on downs when Watson got tackled on fourth down at the end of the first half.

The Texans now rank 31st in the NFL in red-zone scoring with eight touchdowns on 22 red-zone opportunities, a 36.36 percentage. Only the New York Jets rank lower.

“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things," O'Brien said. "t’s not a time for us to sit here and list all the things. I think it starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job of teaching it, designing it, and then there are some things that we have to do a better job of executing. There’s no doubt about it. We had more penalties down there again. We had plays that were there that maybe the play wasn’t made and then there were other plays that we have to design better.

"I think the defenses are doing a real good job down there. You have to be in this business day in and day out to understand how difficult the red area is. There’s less space, the windows, they open and close very fast, you have to make quick decisions, you have to throw the ball accurately, you’ve got to be able to run the ball by covering people up and blocking support and all these other things. Everybody’s got to do a better job, and it starts with the coaching. "

O'Brien said the Texans are trying everything they can think of to fix the problem and be more efficient.

“There’s still a menu of plays," O'Brien said. "We called them all. Not many of them worked. We’re kicking too many field goals. We have to score touchdowns. That’s not a sustainable way to win games in this league and we know that."